Asian semiconductor stocks surged on Tuesday following a rally in Nvidia’s shares, which closed at a record high on Monday, CNBC reports.
Nvidia, the leading AI chipmaker, saw its market value reach $3.4 trillion, surpassing Microsoft to become the second most valuable company on Wall Street, just behind Apple. The bullish momentum from Nvidia’s rise spilled over into global markets, boosting semiconductor-related companies across Asia.
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix, which supplies high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips for Nvidia’s AI applications, saw its shares jump 2.8%. Samsung Electronics, expected to manufacture HBM chips for some Nvidia products, also experienced a 0.5% increase.
In Taiwan, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), one of Nvidia’s key suppliers, rose 2.4%, while Hon Hai Precision Industry, internationally known as Foxconn, gained 3.5%.
Japanese semiconductor firms also benefited from the investor enthusiasm. Tokyo Electron, a major chip manufacturer, surged 5%, testing equipment supplier Advantest rose 3.8%, and Renesas Electronics increased by over 4%. Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank Group, which owns a stake in chip designer Arm, saw its shares soar as much as 6.4%.
Nvidia’s rally followed its shares rising 2.4% on Monday, closing at $138.07, surpassing its previous high from June. The surge comes as Nvidia continues to capitalize on the growing demand for its graphics processing units (GPUs), essential for powering advanced artificial intelligence technologies.
Big US tech companies such as Microsoft, Meta, Google, and Amazon have been purchasing Nvidia’s GPUs in large quantities for their AI projects. With these companies set to report their quarterly earnings later in October, Nvidia’s outlook remains strong, contributing to its meteoric rise of nearly 180% this year.
